Diagnostic significance of the BRAF V600E mutation in conventional papillary thyroid carcinomas

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common histological thyroid cancer, accounting for approximately 80% of thyroid cancers. Although PTC is highly curable, some patients encounter high rates of morbidity and mortality. BRAF V600E mutations are the most common genetic mutation in PTC and the relationship between BRAF V600E mutations and PTC has recently been a focus of research. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of BRAF V600E mutation in PTC tissue, pericarcinous tissue, and benign tumor samples, and explore the correlation between BRAF V600E mutations and different clinicopathological features. In the present study, 120 conventional PTC samples, 30 pericarcinous tissue, and 25 benign nodule samples were collected, and the BRAF V600E mutation was tested using the BRAF Gene V600E Mutation Detection Kit. Statistical analyses were performed for the data on BRAF V600E mutation in three kinds of tissue and in different clinicopathological categories of PTC. Finally, results revealed that the prevalence of BRAF V600E mutation in exact cancerous tissue of 120 PTC samples was 88.3%, and BRAF V600E mutations were absent in the pericarcinous tissue and benign nodule samples. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of BRAF V600E mutation depending on the age, gender, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and lesion location (P > 0.05). Consequently, the BRAF V600E mutation was found to be highly prevalent in conventional PTC samples due to more accurate sample processing and the use of different detection methods, and absolutely negative in pericarcinous tissue and benign nodule samples. Therefore, BRAF V600E mutation could suggest a useful predictor of tumorigenesis in PTC, and such mutation may also affect local carcinoma development. There is no evidence that the BRAF V600E mutation significantly reflects aggressive characteristics and poor prognosis of patients with PTC.